Redemption is God's act of buying back the human race that He lost when Adam sinned, paid for by the shed blood of Christ.
In Romans 3:24–25, Scripture says we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood. Les Feldick explains that Adam's sin caused God to lose the human race, and redemption is the process of buying us back with a price—Christ's blood. It is received through faith in Jesus' shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 3:24 — Paul directly connects redemption to justification by God's grace in Christ—the key verse Les uses to introduce the topic.
Romans 3:25 — Identifies Christ as the propitiation through faith in His blood, showing that the price of redemption is Christ's sacrificial death.
Paul states clearly in Romans 3:24 that believers are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” This shows that redemption is not something we earn; it comes through God's grace because of what Jesus did. In the next verse, Romans 3:25, Paul says God set forth Jesus “to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.” The Bible therefore connects redemption directly to faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice. Romans 3:23 also reminds us why redemption is needed: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Les Feldick teaches that redemption is the Bible's way of describing God buying back what He lost. When Adam sinned, God lost the human race because we were all in Adam. So God set a plan of redemption into motion—buying us back with a price. Les uses everyday illustrations: redeeming a pawned item from a pawnshop, and the Roman slave market where the Greek word agorazo described buying a slave. The price God paid was the shed blood of Jesus. Les insists that redemption comes only through faith in that shed blood—Christ's death, burial, and resurrection—and that we cannot bypass blood or faith. He also connects redemption to reconciliation, since both involve restoring what was lost or separated.
According to Les, when Adam sinned, God lost the human race. Because we were all in Adam, that loss includes every human being. This is why God immediately put a plan of redemption in place—to buy us back from that lost condition.
Les compares redemption to redeeming an item from a pawnshop (what he calls a “hawk shop”). If you lose control of something by pawning it, the only way to get it back is to pay the price and redeem it. In the same way, when Adam fell, God lost the human race and had to redeem it by paying a price.
Les points out that the word redemption in Romans goes back to the Roman slave market. The Greek term agorazo meant to buy a slave in that market. This legal purchase/buying back illustrates how God redeems lost humanity out of the slave market of sin—He buys us back so we no longer belong to the market.
Les teaches that the price God paid to redeem us was His own blood—the shed blood of Christ. He mentions two mandatory Scripture statements: without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and without faith it is impossible to please God. Redemption is applied when we believe what God says about the shed blood, Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
Les says redemption and reconciliation are a lot alike. Redemption is regaining control of something by buying it back; reconciliation is bringing separated parties back together into full fellowship. God's desire is to reconcile the whole human race, and this is what He has done through Christ.
Les uses Joseph being sold into Egypt as an illustration. When the brothers sold Joseph, all twelve sons ended up in Egypt as a result of sin, and God lost control of His covenant people. God then had to buy them back—a picture of redemption from slavery.
Redemption as God's Purchase Back
Les reads Romans 3:24 and explains that redemption is God's way of purchasing back what He lost in the Garden of Eden.
Definition of Redemption—Being Bought Back
Les defines redeemed as “bought”—when something is pawned, it must be redeemed by paying a price, and Adam's fall meant God had to redeem the human race.
Faith in the Shed Blood
Les teaches that redemption happens when we believe what God says about the shed blood—His death, burial, and resurrection, with no bypassing of blood or faith.
God Lost Us in Adam
Les explains that when Adam sinned God lost the human race, so He had to buy us back; Satan does not let go easily.
Redemption as Buying Back Lost Control
Using the pawnshop and Joseph sold into Egypt, Les illustrates that redemption is buying back what you lost control of.
Roman Slave Market Illustration
Les traces the word redemption to the Roman slave market and the Greek word agorazo, where a slave could be bought out of the market.
The Price Was His Blood
Les says the whole process of redemption was buying us back with a price, and that price was God's own blood—Christ's shed blood.
Redemption and Reconciliation Compared
Les shows that redemption, like reconciliation, restores what has been lost or separated—God's goal is to bring the human race back to Himself.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This verse frames why redemption is necessary—all have sinned and fall short of God's glory.
Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
This is the key verse that directly connects redemption to justification by grace in Christ.
Romans 3:25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
This verse reveals that Christ is the propitiation through faith in His blood, the basis of redemption.
In Christianity, redemption means being bought back by God through Christ. God lost the human race when Adam sinned, so He paid the price of Christ's shed blood to purchase us back to Himself (Romans 3:24).
We need redemption because when Adam sinned God lost the human race. Since we were all in Adam, the only way to restore us was for God to redeem us—buy us back with a price.
Christ redeemed us by His shed blood. The price God paid was His own blood—the blood of Christ—and it is through faith in that shed blood, His death, burial, and resurrection, that we are redeemed.
Les says they are alike: redemption is losing control of something and buying it back, while reconciliation is bringing separated parties back together. God has reconciled the whole human race through Christ.
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